This autumn Iggesund Paperboard is providing environmental training for all the nearly 900 employees at its Iggesund Mill in Sweden.

According to a company press note, participants “will receive a half-day orientation in current environmental issues.”

“The program is in response to requests from the relevant authorities and certification bodies but is also prompted by a desire to make employees even more aware of today’s environmental issues as yet another way to reduce the company’s environmental impact,” the note said.

“We believe it’s important that our employees know where the company stands, what historical environmental impact we have had, and, not least, where we are today,” said Anna Mårtensson, environment manager at Iggesund Mill, which manufactures Invercote paperboard. “I want our employees to be aware of how they can actually influence our environment through their own behavior at the workplace.

“A lot can be done—and has been done—in the form of large investments. But we also need the watchful eyes of each individual employee noticing, for example, that something’s wrong with a flow or that a source of noise could be enclosed. We can only have this if our people know what demands are being made on us and why. That’s why this training is important.”

Iggesund Mill’s emissions to air and water, energy issues and the treatment of waste products are to be important aspects of the training being given to all employees. And another focus will be on the mill’s extensive monitoring and control systems, which are said to be “considerably more comprehensive than the authorities’ requirements.” The training will be provided not only in the classroom but also in the industrial setting, where participants will be able to see for themselves what is being done and what the effects are. For the first time, there will be a presentation of the environmental effects that the mill’s €260 million boiler has had. The boiler was commissioned in June 2012.

“Until now we have talked mostly about the energy effects of the new boiler,” Mårtensson said. “Now it’s time to talk about what it means for the local environment. After completing the fine-tuning process, we can now see that the emissions of sulphur and particulates from the boiler have more than halved compared with those from its predecessor.”

The company said that environmental issues had formed part of every investment decision at Iggesund Mill for decades. This meant that a reduced environmental impact was built into the entire production process.

“A multiyear, long-term sustainability effort has laid the foundation for today’s situation, where we have a very low environmental impact,” said Mårtensson. “Creating an increased awareness among all our employees is a logical additional step, which will certainly produce additional results.”